The educational system has been institutionalized for good cause? I admit it has its merits.
It is possible to teach yourself many subjects, but school provides a rigorous schedule so you are forced to keep up. It also allows learning opportunities from different instructors and other people. Some information not in a book and otherwise I can recall every now and then.
There are a lot of colleges and universities here in the DC area. When I went back to school after I got my degree I felt like I was hiding in the classroom because I wanted to work. On the other hand, some times I feel I could probably stay in school forever.
I saw an advertisement for a local college that provided the needed skills for a career in the new Department of Homeland Security. My sister states an appraisal class is required to prove your knowledge of that field – which is good for the school.
I mean Isaac Newton developed calculus. Abraham Lincoln taught himself to be a lawyer. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft. Are these exceptions? Can you get a nice job with out the paper? It doesn’t seem like it for the most part.
It sure stinks that you have to go through the degree mill to get anywhere in life. I can attest to the fact that I learned a whole lot more on my own about just about every topic I have any knowledge about than I could ever have learned in school. Formal education is nothing but an inefficient but necessary means to an end in most cases.
Posted by: Jeremy at July 11, 2003 09:12 PM